Mr, Johnson, managing director of Messrs, Cammell, Laird & Ca., Ltd. builders of the li-fated submarine 'Thetis, declared today that when the crew opened one of the forward doors, a torpedo tube was flooded, they water overpowered them, and they were only able to shut' the door partially.
The result was that the two for~ ward compartments in the submarine were flooded, Replying to the criticism that something more might have been done 10 save the men imprisoned in the sub~ ravine, Mr, Johnson insisted that the Admiralty had done everything possible to save their lives, That, he added, was the only thing everyone cared about.
He described the difficulties attend ing the rescue operations as "terrific."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.